“They came up with BIT which can highlight the exact areas where ­violence, anti-social behaviour and disorder trends are showing.

“It literaly drills down to identify specific locations and areas so that officers can be deployed to best effect.

“The whole point is to have a police presence there before any incidents happen and this is based on ­identifying where those areas are.

“This means that officers are in the right place at the right time, engaging with the right people.”

Barry says BIT also focuses on calls about two groups most likely to get involved in criminality.

He added: “We know that men aged 20-24 are most likely to carry out ­violent crime such as assaults. We also know that boys aged 13 to 15 are at an age we can ­target to stop them getting involved in the future.

Chief Analyst Lesley Bain

“So when BIT flags up complaints from the public about these two groups causing disorder in a particular area we can take action immediately”

Thanks to BIT, police say they have already launched a succesful ­crackdown on violent crime, disorder, housebreaking, theft and anti social behaviour in Edinburgh’s Craigmillar area, Maryfield, in Dundee, and the Inverclyde area, including Greenock.

Chief Inspector Alex Kelly added: ”Local police commanders can switch on their computers in the morning, click on the desktop and get a list of crimes in their area right down to the street.”

Lesley Bain heads a team of 200 analysts and intelligence gatherers who work on the software.

She said: “It can be difficult for police to keep a check on all the information that comes into them and make sense of it. BIT does that for them.”

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams, who has overall ­responsibility for BIT, said: “It’s a ­fantastic tool for the police and we’re already using it to great effect to make our communities safer.